I only knew LMTU and his latter incarnation as HeyGay on gaythailand. I never knew the man personally. I know he had many good friends and I was genuinely saddened when he died, especially the manner of his death. I am happy for him that he had friends to take care of him since he could not return to the UK for treatment.Originally Posted by Manforallseasons
I never enjoyed his posting. Some certainly was informative and I have no doubt some found it very useful. It was partly the childish English he used - clearly deliberate as I know he spoke and wrote English to the manner born. It was partly also the "tips" he would give out as facts when in fact they were not facts at all. He frequently suggested that if any "fact" was proved wrong, he would stand the one who discovered it a nice dinner. Well, as just one example, he certainly got his knickers twisted in the Air Hanuman fare episode - but absolutely would not back down. Yet he was just plain wrong!
But it is the comment about "never forget this is virtual ...and if you do stop posting" that certainly summed up some of his writing and which I find objectionable. The fact is that if you use a forum to spread rumour, gossip and, let's be honest. sometimes outright lies (and I stress I make no reference to any specific poster), then the whole point of a forum is not only massively devalued - it becomes worthless. I could spin any number of tales of adventures in Taiwan, Japan, Bhutan, Singapore, wherever, yet never having been to any of them. If my view was "this is virtual", I could lie in every sentence. Then if any member found themselves in those countries using my travel posts as a guide, they would be up shit creek.
Treating a forum as a personal plaything may seem great fun to those with far too much time on their hands. Occasional banter between members is quite different. But I maintain that unless there is a strong thread of honesty and respect for what is posted, forums will die sooner rather than later.
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